File puptcrit/puptcrit.0807, message 101


To: Puptcrit Puptcrit <puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org>
From: Olivia Huff <ohuff-AT-dcn.org>
Date: Thu, 10 Jul 2008 15:38:13 -0700
Subject: [Puptcrit] The frog pianist --revisited


Dear Friends,
as I promised, we went to Barcelona, and after three days of  
looking , finally found Daniel and his frog on La Rambla.  He played  
in the afternoon/evening (after it cooled down a bit.)  Daniel was  
most gracious in letting me photograph/video him and his control, but  
I haven't had a chance to really look at what I got yet.  I have a  
hunch there won't be much more to see... The mechanism looks like  
something out of the Borg (Star Trek), and it weights around 3 kilos,  
he said (and I tried it, and it is indeed VERY heavy).  Daniel has to  
take breaks to give his arm a rest.

In between bits, Daniel spoke to us a lot.  He's looking to set up a  
workshop in Mexico and perhaps spend 6 months in Mexico and 6 months  
in Barcelona.  Barcelona is getting too expensive, and he mentioned  
that because he is not Spanish (but Mexican) he is often overlooked  
for opportunities and gigs.  It's been a real struggle.  His frog was  
featured on a children's show for a few years...evidently it talked  
(in Catalan, I think he said) and developed a personality.  He finds  
that there isn't much camaraderie among puppeteers in Spain--not like  
he has gleaned exists in the US.  He's got a few ideas he would now  
like to pursue for new shows, and new puppets.

BTW, he had to change his place on La Rambla.  He used to perform at  
the "top" where it is more crowded, but they banned all electrified  
sound from up there, as the road was being blocked by the audiences.   
That type of entertainment now needs to be at the "bottom" near the  
ocean part, and the traffic is less.  It effectively cut his take in  
half.  He is also running into the problem that he has been there so  
long that locals know him and his act and so they walk on by.

Hopefully in a week or two I'll see what I got on my camera and see  
if anything is worth posting.

Ciao
Olivia
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